Scotland's first craft tequila company has been officially launched by a pair of former oil industry executives.

Based in Aberdeen, UWA Tequila is the first brand in the industry to put a Scottish twist on the traditional Mexican spirit by ageing it in whisky casks. The company uses Speyside Distillery casks to produce its core line-up which will include a platinum blanco - the spirit in its purest form - a seven-month cask aged reposado and a 14-month anejo.

Read More

Set up in September 2016 following a six-figure investment by owners Michael Ballantyne and Ross Davidson, UWA's tequilas are targeting the upper end of the market. Whisky giant Gordon & MacPhail and independent company Bootstrap Liquor will handle distribution in the UK to high-end shops, independent drinks stores, bars and restaurants.

UWA co-founders Ross Davidson (left) and Michael Ballantyne

Ballantyne said the firm's products are "like nothing else on the drinks market at the moment".

"It's been a long time developing everything for the brand, but we've put a lot of effort into producing the very best tequila with our own Scottish twist," he said.

"Being native Scots and knowing our whiskies rather well, we simply took inspiration from the whisky industry and applied it to our tequila. Ageing in various casks gives each one a unique expression, and we wanted to be the first people to do something really different in the tequila industry."

Co-founder Davidson added: "We make the tequila in the same way as anyone else does, but the fact we started out with an industry first using Single Malt Scotch whisky casks really does make our tequila stand out.

"Traditionally companies use American bourbon casks for ageing tequila so we've taken a really innovative approach in doing something completely different to the norm."

UWA is already looking into ageing tequila in numerous other types of casks to create small batches of premium spirit. There are also plans for some "extremely rare" ones further down the line.